Friday night play list

Do kids exchange 'mix tapes' with their boyfriends or girlfriends nowadays? I still have the mix tapes that my ex-boyfriend gave me in high school and I remember sitting alone in the dark on a Friday night, listening to music, and getting angst-ridden.

Sadly, music is no longer the soundtrack of my life. This growing detachment from music seems to be symptomatic of getting older, unless you are a music enthusiast who actively searches for the latest bands. I do try to keep up with new music, if only so I don't become one of those people who complains that "music ain't what it used to be." More importantly, I want to be able to get nostalgic about this time of my life when I listen to songs from 2008, 15 years later.

In the meantime, I'd like to offer up my Friday night mix tape; an ode to my lonely teenage self. You'll notice that the songs all come from a certain time frame though I would ask you to refrain from doing the math out of kindness.

"Fade Into You" - Mazzy Star
"All I Want" - Toad the Wet Sprocket
"Fell On Black Days" - Soundgarden
"Hurt" - Nine Inch Nails
"Last Goodbye" - Jeff Buckley
"Soma" - Smashing Pumpkins

Insert Hollywood here

It has been reported that Hollywood is set to remake the 2003 Korean hit film, Old Boy. More specifically, Will Smith and Steven Spielberg are in talks to star and direct, respectively.

Many fans of the original film are reacting with horror, but I think only good things can come of this collaboration. Will Smith single-handedly carried the only parts of I Am Legend that were worth watching and his repeat preference for sci-fi and fantasy projects betrays a fanboy core. Now, with a remake of Old Boy, Smith will permanently commit to celluloid his association with violent self-mutilation and incest.

As for Spielberg, if the director chooses to have Smith eat a live octopus and saw off his own tongue, he will fulfil the promise that the heart transplant scene in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom only hinted at.

There is a chance that Smith and Spielberg will turn this movie into a straightforward revenge action film. If that does happen, it will be the perfect catalyst for Old Boy fans to attack both actor and director with hammers then make out with their siblings in the aisles of their local multiplex. Smith and Spielberg will, undoubtedly, appreciate the cinematic references.

Despite appearances, I care

Let me just state for the record that I support the Royal Canadian Legion's poppy campaign. I want to show ex-service people that I am grateful that they were "in the shit" so that I do not have to be. I also want to assist them financially in their old age.

The problem is: I cannot find a poppy vendor. Maybe all those WWI and WWII vets are no longer hardy enough to stand around for long periods of time in the cold, trying to get passerbys to contribute a few coins. Or maybe retailers are not cooperating or even supportive of the campaign. Whatever the reason, I now look like an apathetic jerk and I have contributed nothing.

My inability to purchase a poppy pin is a roadblock to the more consistent problem that I have encountered with the poppy pins over the years. In the past, when poppy pins were more plentiful in supply, I found myself buying 3-4 pins before November 11 had even arrived. The pins are designed to be lost; with its sleek, straight pin, the poppy attaches itself to your jacket until your bag strap hits it or you move your arms horizontally or a strong gust of wind hits you in the chest. I understand that this is a production cost issue and, frankly, easily lost poppy pins do increase donations, but seeing poppy pins litter the city streets seems wasteful.

Solutions that have been suggested to me in the past include securing the poppy with my own safety pin, or picking one up off the ground or reusing one purchased the previous year. However, none of these solutions address the financial contribution that is part of the motivation behind the poppy campaign.

The Royal Canadian Legion should team up with the Royal Canadian Mint, which already produces a Remembrance Day commemorative coin, to produce a more durable metal poppy pin. These metal pins can be sold for $5 or more thus guaranteeing that they cover the donations that would have been made over a 2-3 year span with the more flimsy poppy pins. A different design can be released each year so that the pins become something that can be purchased annually by collectors.

I'll continue searching around for poppy pin vendors but with less than 24 hours to go before November 11, the Royal Canadian Legion may have to settle for my good intentions.

Speaking of the Royal Canadian Mint reminds me of a few additional gripes. The Mint used to produce some elegant coins; for instance, the series celebrating Canada's 1967 Centennial. Nowadays, we get gaudily painted metal like the Remembrance Day coin, the Pink Ribbon Campaign coin, or convoluted messes like that 25 cent coin design with a child's drawing on it.

Their advertising campaign for the Remembrance Day coins is no smarter than the product. The ad is meant to remind viewers of the horrors of the battlefield but, instead, it comes across as a trailer for a first person shooter like Call of Duty. See for yourself below and just try to stop yourself from instant messaging "PWNED".

Welcome back to Earth

There are undoubtedly far more passionate and eloquent writers about the significance of Barack Obama's win last night than me. Rather than try to wax poetic about this momentous event, I wonder, in point form:

• Where will all those Republicans who did not want to live in Obama's socialist nightmare go? Surrounded by socialists and communists to the north and brown people eager to steal jobs to the south, where do they turn?
• Will Americans be treated better when they travel abroad? With the popularity of Obama in Europe, Africa and Japan, will Americans be patted on the back for a good job instead of the usual demand for an apology?
• Will this reconnection with the rest of the world be followed by a more cosmopolitan mindset in Washington?

Roughly four years ago, I referred to Obama as America's best chance for a Black president in the next 20 years. In recent months, my pessimism gave way to careless optimism as I took for granted that Obama would defeat McCain after he won the Democratic nomination since I considered Hillary Clinton a more challenging opponent. It does make me a little emotional to think of all the stars that had to align for this result to come about.

World Wide Web of Men

The few unfortunate websurfers who stumble upon my blog may find themselves wondering if I am a man or woman in order to determine if their sexual attraction is warranted. Well, wonder no more! The GenderAnalyzer claims to be able to determine if a blog is written by a man or a woman. And the answer is: I'm all man. And all the blogs listed under my 'Links' sidebar are also written by men. Hooray for sausages.

Out of sight, out of touch

With mere days before the U.S. election, I finally decided to see Michael Moore's latest film, Slacker Uprising, which has been available as a free download since September in a purported bid to get Americans to vote on November 4, 2008.

Watching Slacker Uprising was a cringe worthy experience. For 90 relentless minutes, Moore presents himself as the saviour of the Democratic party in the run up to the 2004 election. While swatting annoyingly stereotypical right wing protesters, Moore and his self-congratulatory celebrity friends demonize George W. Bush without actually endorsing John Kerry. In the end, the 2004 American election proved that Democratic voters will not vote for a weak candidate simply because Michael Moore tells them that he is the lesser of two evils.

Moore's attempt to remain relevant made me wonder what was up with Ralph Nader in 2008. The independent candidate was once blamed for splitting the Democratic vote and causing Al Gore to lose the presidency. Now, his press conferences barely register in the media.

There has been much discussion in the mainstream media about how Barack Obama represents hope for African Americans but not so much about how he has transformed the attitude of the Democratic Party. It must be a refreshing feeling for American Democrats to support a mainstream candidate wholeheartedly and not just out of fear of the alternative.

Even if Obama loses his bid for the presidency on November 4, a changing of the guard has taken place within the Democratic party.

By the way, has John McCain given up already? His appearance on Saturday Night Live came across as the good natured joking of a man who has admitted defeat. He had no objection to the jabs made at his running mate's premature presidential ambitions, and his self-conscious reference to the "Sad Grandpa" strategy did not preclude his actual use of it during his appearance. This was about as unfortunate as Hillary Clinton's loss to Obama in the Democratic nomination; a sense of opportunity wasted.

Look at what I read!

In my previous blog entry, I listed some of my easy reading favourites. These were books that took absolutely no effort but were completely engrossing and satisfying. Next, I will list books that were more challenging but still left an impression. Again, feel free to leave suggested read lists.

I am currently half way through Terry Pratchett's Nation. I got bogged down when characters started speaking with spirits instead of each other. For the sake of my newly revived reading exercise, I hope this changes.

The White Hotel - D.M. Thomas
I had recently finished Sigmund Freud's Dora: An Analysis of a Case of Hysteria before I picked this up so I was in no mood for more psychoanalysis. Yet, piecing together the incongruous bits of information about the main character's past kept me going until I reached the chapter that made the Holocaust real to me in a way that no movie nor novel ever has. The apt term for the book's depiction of the Holocaust is chilling, not depressing.

Our Mutual Friend - Charles Dickens
This book was challenging only because it is as thick as a dictionary. I pride myself on being a speedy reader and yet, Our Mutual Friend took me seven days - after I had forsaken attending my classes in favour of holing myself up in my room. It was easy to get lost in Victorian London and the characters that occupy every facet of society. This was Dickens's last completed work and it seems that in his old age, Charles enjoyed aiming comedic barbs at the more pompous members of Victorian society. Admittedly, the ending is contrived but the overall experience was still enjoyable. Do not see the 1998 BBC production, which is overly dramatic and turns the male lead into a morose stalker.

Amsterdam - Ian McEwan
Before McEwan's Atonement was published and turned into a big budget movie starring Keira Knightley, McEwan was known for nasty novels about sophisticated people drawn into violent situations. Amsterdam won McEwan the Booker Prize but it has none of the grandness and ambition of Atonement. Rather, its spare and ruthless treatment of its characters made it engrossing even as it filled me with dread. Atonement has a great ending that betrays the reader's previous peceptions but Amsterdam fulfills the pact that it makes with its readers from the very beginning.

Next up: books that I could not finish. It could be my longest reading list yet!